Corporate PR

Inside Corporate Communications (for a PR Agency)

Heather Sliwinski Leave a comment

Keep Calm and Hire A PR AgencyAfter graduating college, I was torn between searching for jobs in-house or at an agency. I knew I wanted to work in corporate communications, but the advice I received from PR professionals, professors and classmates was to try the agency route first, since there are more entry-level opportunities. Given the economic climate and difficult job market, I took that advice, but through a twist of fate found myself in a role I never even knew existed: in-house corporate communications for a PR agency!

Every day is an adventure, and there are many new skills and lessons I’ve learned through my experience so far. There’s no such thing as a typical day, but my main tasks include supporting new business opportunities, helping teams craft industry award submissions, drafting internal and external communications materials, pitching trade media, event planning and managing website content and social media properties.

The best part about working in corporate communications for a PR agency is the ability to learn how both roles function. Everyday I watch my colleagues on the account side working hard to service clients while I’ve been able to support them through corporate communications. Even though we have different roles, many of our tasks are similar (e.g. research, media lists, event management) and as new PR professionals, we’ve all learned to master the art of multi-tasking and time management—key skills needed in PR!

So as you embark on (or even just consider) a career in corporate communications, here are three tips I’ve found to be helpful in this role:

  1.  Learn as much as possible about your organization and industry. Working in corporate communications, it is vital to know everything you can about the company: its products or services, its leaders, its mission, its employees, etc. Typically, the corporate communications team serves as a liaison between the organization and external audiences, with the head of the team taking on the role of company spokesperson. If reporters or potential clients contact our team looking for information on a campaign we ran in Paris, a global offering that just launched or a new client in New York, it’s our job to answer their questions or at least be able to refer them to someone who can help. Thus, the more you know about your company, the better equipped you’ll be to respond to inquiries. The best way to learn about what’s happening is to talk to your colleagues and find out what they’re working on, pay attention to emails and updates sent around the office and study the firm’s website, policies, case studies and credentials, anything that will provide background information to give you a deep understanding of your company’s business.
    The same goes for the industry. For example, in my role I need to know the ins and outs of what’s happening in public relations, the latest news from our competitors and new developments and trends that might impact our business. It’s important to become an expert in your field so you understand and can speak with accuracy and authority to internal and external audiences. As a bonus, you will be seen as a vital asset and go-to person for others within the company who may have questions on what you’ve learned!
  2. Develop excellent writing skills. Whatever tasks are thrown your way, it will most likely involve writing. From press releases to internal announcements to case studies, I spend most of my days writing and editing various communications materials. Being able to write well is one of the most important skills a PR professional should have (this is also applicable to other PR roles). Your writing will improve over time but definitely take advantage of every opportunity to practice. If a colleague needs an email or press release drafted, offer to take a stab at it. Once it’s finalized, ask to see the final version so you can compare it to your draft and see what changes were made. This will help you learn what you need to improve upon for next time.
  3. Network. Get to know as many people inside and outside the company as you can. Networking is an important tool we hear about time and time again, but it’s truly essential in the corporate communications role. Start building relationships from day one with your colleagues. I’ve been given the opportunity to support new business pitches, award submissions and media relations efforts across practices and across offices. With each project, I am introduced to someone new, and that person becomes a great resource for the future when a similar project or request arises. The same is true externally. I’ve built relationships with PR trade journalists in order gain visibility in the media. Most importantly, don’t just reach out to someone when you need something; show an interest in their job, and figure out how you can work together so you can both meet your goals.

Have you ever considered doing PR for a PR agency? What other questions would you ask?

 

Stephanie ManasStephanie Manas is a corporate communications specialist/senior account executive at Ogilvy Public Relations, providing business development and internal and external relations support to the global communications agency. Previously, she held positions in theatrical PR at Boneau/Bryan-Brown and book publicity at Penguin Group USA. Prior to that, Manas interned at FleishmanHillard, The Broadway League and 451 Marketing. She earned a bachelor’s degree in communication and economics from Boston University. Manas is the co-chair of the marketing committee for PRSA-NY. Feel free to connect with her on LinkedIn or Twitter. For more information on Manas, check out her recent Q&A in Syracuse University’s Newhouse PR blog.

If You Don’t Tell Your Organization’s Story, Someone Else Will

Heather Sliwinski Leave a comment

Typewriter with Once Upon a TimeIn an age when practically everyone carries the latest model of a mobile device, when breaking news is always a glance away and one company’s misstep can spread like wildfire across the country in a matter of only minutes, it is essential that organizations can effectively communicate their stories, before someone else does for them.

Find Real Stories

The foundation of telling your organization’s story well is to start with finding a story: a real story. Every organization has a story to tell. Even the smallest or seemingly mundane organization has some unique attribute hidden in its history, conception, product, obstacles or successes. As public relations professionals, our job is to unearth these stories and nuances that set organizations apart.

Often best captured by simple anecdotes that reflect organizational values, character and image, your story needs to emulate who you are and what sets you apart. If these stories do not automatically surface, it’s up to you to discover what those differentiations are and effectively communicate them to your audience through authentic communication.

It is important to note, that while a particular instance or fact may seem like an excellent beginning to your brand’s story, even the most interesting tale can stop you in your tracks if it is not consistent with your brand message or values. If you cannot directly link your story to your brand, the message will quickly become diluted and serve as a detriment because of inconsistencies and confusion about who you are and your values. If your story lacks brand consistency or clarity, it’s time to revisit the purpose of finding your story.

The most successful brand stories are not fabricated or over exaggerations of the truth. They are authentic, true and a direct reflection of what the brand values.

Use Real People

Perhaps the simplest way to find a good story that emanates your company’s core character is to find real people who have real stories to tell. Be authentic while creating and refining characters in your story whom your audience will champion. These stories could come from any of your stakeholders, including people from within your organization, one of your clients or even someone in your community. A plethora of compelling content is not necessary in order to communicate your story well. A few unique anecdotes can be more than enough to convey everything about your brand and company culture.

Once you have the story that captures the essence of who you are, what comes next? The mistake many organizations make is convoluting the clarity of their story by hiring an actor or appointing a spokesperson to tell it for them. Consider the purpose of why you originally chose to discover and tell your story; this solution produces the opposite effect.

Did your retired co-founder inherit the shop location of your now nationally recognized bakery chain from a famous pastry artist? Bring her back in for an interview. Make her and what her story means for your organization the focus of your next campaign.

People connect to real stories that evoke authentic emotion. The more willing you are to humanize your stories, the more you can relate to your audience and your audience can relate to you.

Be Authentic

Bottom line: there is trust in transparency.

In this day and age, nothing is hidden. No bad business decision, unethical practice or poor treatment of customers can be concealed. It is only a matter of time before the truth is revealed, and when it is, who would you rather have controlling the conversation: you, the public or even your competition? An honest apology or explanation of the truth can earn the respect of your audience and has the potential to deter ruthless scrutiny, even if that scrutiny is unfounded.

When crafting your story, be as open and honest with your audience as you can be, because openness is equal to trust. Actively disclosing information to your constituents about your company and its products or services is perhaps the most powerful means of establishing and building trust with your audience. Don’t forget to ask yourself the hard questions and answer them before others have the opportunity to answer them for you.

In the end, the key element to telling your organization’s story well is simple: the truth. The most powerful and meaningful brand stories are derived from honesty and openness. When you tell your story by using authenticity and real people to tell those stories, you will establish more than just trust with your stakeholders—you will create passionate brand advocates who believe in your brand and its mission.

 

Kristen SyndramKristen Syndram is a public relations graduate from Illinois State University and a public relations and communications professional in the central Illinois area. She has gained professional communications experience by working with both Fortune 50 companies as well as boutique agencies and specializes in public relations, media relations and social media. Connect with her on LinkedIn or follow her on Twitter. 

Creating a Blog Strategy that Works: 10 Tips for Company Bloggers and Teams by Crystal Olig

Heather Sliwinski 5 Comments

Blogging can be frightening because no matter the size of your organization, not everyone believes they are a writer. The allure of a brand-spanking new blog tarnishes quickly when everyone realizes you have to feed the beast.

As PR pros, we mobilize a company’s internal experts and find a way to help them turn their knowledge into dynamic and compelling content. Whether we write it, ghostwrite it or edit it, thoughtful preparation and tools go a long way. Here is a quick guide to creating a long-term strategy that works.

1.       Editorial strategy & calendar

Blog platforms today, from WordPress and Blogger to Tumblr and Posterous, are intuitive to use, and you can be up and blogging in a day. However, that day should include at least a basic outline of content areas of focus with a frequency goal – once a day, a few times a week or once a week, at minimum. Even better is a strategic plan based around a few key information architecture elements.

Combine your content plan into strategic groups. A tool like MindMeister is great for team brainstorms and collaboratively creating a plan with your team. Within each of your topical areas, pick out a few descriptive words or phrases. Your groups can become blog categories, and the rest are viable tags.

Lastly, a deadline calendar that you gently enforce, or even better, incentivize your staff with, helps everyone know what they are expected to do and when.

2.       Be a great curator

While brainstorming is great, sometimes you just do not have it in you to start completely from scratch. I remind my clients that they are constantly consuming great content and forming an opinion. Applying an expert eye to e-mail newsletters, tweets from colleagues and magazine articles, a good blogger just picks the most on-trend, compelling or controversial info. Flip it around, add your own spin and you have a new post. The ability to curate content and choose the most compelling to share and open for commentary is a cultivated blogging skill.

3.       Content isn’t just words

Pay attention to your blogging team members’ strengths. The most persuasive and prepared salesperson can turn to jelly at the thought of putting pen to paper. Find a way to capture that person’s voice through rich media. Put a flip cam in the table in the breakroom and ask the salesperson some questions – “What is the most common question you get asked?” or “What questions do you wish our customers asked you?” can generate fascinating “vlogs.” Even a quick audio recording using a microphone or headset can do the trick.

4.       Mobilize a team

Unless you are a sole practitioner or an executive blogging for the sake of your own reputation, payday or thought leadership, chances are writing for the company blog is not your only job. Find a team who can help you, and get buy-in from the top to support everyone’s involvement. A monologue is rarely as compelling as a conversation or symphony of voices and perspectives.

5.       Do what you do

When you create your team, do not limit it to your peers in communications. A favorite client of mine mobilized his school’s whole staff to post on their education blog. Everyone can bring a unique perspective.  Some of the most popular posts are photo-driven, created by the school’s facilities and maintenance manager showing events across campus. If your goal is to highlight the rich talent at your organization, allowing them to talk about their passions in relation to your industry and individual roles is a great starting point.

6.       Come packing

Rich blogs full of photography, infographics, videos and graphics do not just happen. Arm yourself with the gadgets you need to capture the moment when inspiration strikes. A flip cam, digital camera and smart phone are all helpful and affordable.

You do not have to be an expert to produce blog content.  If the content is thoughtful and compelling, it counts. If you have access to a design team or some skills of your own, enrich your verbiage with imagery.

7.       Make it recognizable

Not just any old blog will do. It is getting easier every day to create customized and branded blogging platforms. If you know enough about the web or HTML to be dangerous, you can tweak colors, add logos and imagery templates and designs. Template libraries like Themeforest can help you on your way.

8.       Simplicity & SEO

One of the most common questions I hear from my interactive marketing clients is how to keep a corporate website interesting and the content timely. Often times, competing priorities of an organization or the complexity of your corporate site technology prevent communicators from changing it up. A blog can be simpler to use and involve fewer hoops to jump. Google sees the recency of content and gives value to fresh stuff. Blogs today typically have all kinds of built-in SEO-friendly features like the ability to manipulate title tags, URL structures and heading tags.

9.       Make it sharable

In a social world, the best stuff gets shared. Plug-ins and widgets like Topsy, Share This or AddThis, paired with other direct interaction opportunities like Facebook or Linked In “Like” buttons, make it easy to pass along great ideas or stories.

10.   Create a voice

While communicators today often advocate for a clearly articulated brand voice, not everyone in the C-suite sees value in talking to your customers in a casual, non-journalistic or even friendly tone on your corporate site. A blog by nature is often more conversational and meant to elicit commentary and discussion. Writing about issues and trends affecting your industry, great corporate social responsibility initiatives or community action can often allow for more freedom – and more fun for those who are blogging.

Crystal OligCrystal Olig is an online content and digital marketing professional at Oxiem, an interactive marketing agency in Columbus, Ohio. She serves as the New Professionals Section Mentorship Liaison and is on the University Liaison committee locally, working with future PR pros through the Central Ohio PRSA chapter.

The Diary of a New Professional in the Corporate World by Brandi Boatner

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You think you know, but you have no idea. This is the diary of a new PR professional working in the corporate world.

Working at the world’s largest technology company (Fortune #14) in New York is a dream come true. I’ve always been interested in pursing a career in corporate public relations and am so blessed to work in an industry I am very passionate about.

Currently, I am an external relations professional in Global Business Services at IBM recently hired in January 2010. IBM is the world’s largest technology company with more than 400,000 employees in over 170 countries that deliver the IBM brand experience daily to audiences both internal and external. My role and responsibilities includes working with IBM’s external audiences such as journalists, influencers, stakeholders, brand advocates and analysts. The IBM work environment is truly inspiring as I am surrounded by the best and most brilliant people in technology and communications.

My duties involve executing social media strategies for our C-suite study programs, promoting and supporting the IBM Institute for Business Value and thought leadership and generating awareness of the field of analytics. Although media relations is a part of my job duties, as a new hire (only 4 months on the job) I have not had the opportunity to pitch mainstream media but am confident I will within the next month.

Media relations is simply one portion of activities that is highly significant to PR especially within a corporation the size of IBM but there is also reputation management, employee communications, market and social insights as well as community and change management.

Practicing corporate public relations at such a large organization like IBM can be challenging because of the sheer size of the company. However, much to my surprise, no day is the same. As IBM celebrates its 100 year anniversary next year, our company and our brand constantly deals with external audiences. Moreover, it is also nice that IBM fully understands the importance and value of public relations to the organization and utilizes PR in all business functions.

Additionally, I feel my education and advance degree have prepared me well for a career in corporate PR because it gave me the skills to be a critical thinker and a real global view on the industry. Understanding communication theory has given me a wonderful roadmap as to why people behave the way they do. Additionally, marketing classes offered me great insights in to overall communication strategic planning.

I would encourage anyone who wishes to pursue a career in corporate PR with a mid-large size global firm to take some business classes in economics, general business and international marketing. In my graduate studies most of my electives were in international marketing. It also helps to learn a language.

In order to succeed in this particular field you must have great writing skills, language skills, editing skills, business acumen, the ability to think critically, and understand how a global integrated enterprise works.

My advice to PR graduates looking for jobs this year and next year is look into trendy up and coming practice areas like corporate social responsibility and social media jobs that focus on strategy. Also, use social media for your job search but have an integrated approach- not just use only one social media channel or tool. Remember, finding the job is not all about you (although we often think it is), it’s really about timing. When budgets, planning and the company has a dedicated space for the valuable assets you possess, they will let you know. In the meantime, do your homework and know timing is everything.

Brandi Boatner is an External Relations Professional at IBM and have 8+ years of experience in the PR industry.